by Philbert Ono

Kagawa Prefecture is Udon-ken

Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku has recently scored a brilliant PR coup with its “Udon-ken” (うどん県) tourism PR slogan/campaign. Kagawa is seeing a sharp increase in tourists as a result. It goes to show what an original idea and some imagination can do.

Unfortunately, most local tourist bureaus in Japan lack fresh ideas and imagination and remain in a humdrum, mediocre rut. Kagawa got multiple sectors (even the post office) and Kagawa-bred celebrities involved in the campaign. A fine example of great PR teamwork. Too bad “Udon-ken,” which means Udon Noodle Prefecture in reference to Kagawa’s most famous product, works only in Japanese. Hope they figure something out for foreign tourists.